Parcel bomb sent to Celtic manager

Two suspect packages were addressed to Lennon and one to Paul McBride QC and former Labour MSP Trish Godman.

Strathclyde Police Detective Superintendent John Mitchell said sending the packages was a "despicable and cowardly act".

Strathclyde Police confirmed they have launched a major investigation after two "suspect packages" were intercepted at Royal Mail sorting offices last month, both addressed to the Celtic manager.

The first one was found in Saltcoats, Ayrshire, on March 4 and the second was intercepted on March 26 in Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire.

Two days later, on March 28, a parcel for Ms Godman, the former deputy presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament, was delivered at her constituency office.

The most recent package was intercepted last Friday at a postbox on Montgomerie Terrace in Kilwinning, Ayrshire, and was addressed to McBride, who represented Lennon during his recent dispute with the Scottish Football Association (SFA).

Mitchell said: "The initial assessment was that they may have been a hoax. That being said, the investigation that followed was very important ... We sent devices to specialists for forensic examination and, on the back of that, we now realise they were indeed viable devices.

"They were definitely capable of causing significant harm and injury to individuals if they had opened them ... It is important to say that there is no doubt that there is someone out there with information that can assist us and take this inquiry forward and the quicker the better."

Speaking at a press conference at Strathclyde Police's Glasgow headquarters, Chief Superintendent Ruaraidh Nicolson appealed for the public to be "vigilant".